25 September 2012
__NOINDEX__ Meeting of committee meeting held on the 25th September 2012 Committee members: Jenny Bentall (Chair), Richard Llewellyn-Davies (General Secretary), David Watkins, Aston Martin, Astred Niggeloh, John Jenkins, Donnachadh McCathy, Claire Sharpe, Antonio Mori, Claudia Canova, Stephen Weaver (representative from the Rainbow Street block), Noel Ene (Southwark Council resident involvement officer), Kapie Mzumara, Mike Morris. 1. 'Apologies and introductions:' Apologies: Andrew Osborne, Tessa Brown, David Frost (Treasurer), Susie Giles Welcome to the new committee and new members! 2. 'Minutes of the last committee meeting - 10th July 2012' The minutes of the meeting were approved 3. 'Matters arising (not on the agenda)' Cleaner greener safer money for improving the corner of wells Way and Southampton Way. Jenny is chasing this money and how we spend it. Burgess Park representation The Burgess Park opening was complimented. There was discussion about what residents may wish to see in the park. Building toilets, or the possibility of opening existing toilets to the public, was discussed. The issue of representation on the Friends of Burgess Park group was raised. We are aware that the council are planning phase II of the Burgess Park works, allegedly costing another £26 million. Action Ricks will write to the friends of Burgess Park seeking permission to nominate a member from out TRA to attend their meetings. Donnachadh will supply the name of the appropriate person to write to. Rubbish The bins are still being dumped in a haphazard way following rubbish collection. Action We will raise this issue with the council when we next contact them or at the next meeting that Cllr Williams attends. Closed post boxes We mentioned the closed post boxes in the WWTRA area. Apparently these have been closed because the Post Office has lost the keys to the locks over the front of the boxes. Action Ricks will continue to write to and lobby the Post Office on behalf of the Association. Poor quality replacement paving on Southampton Way and elsewhere. The very shoddy workmanship regarding the pavements on Southampton Way was raised. The paving stones are loose under foot and dangerous. Dowlas Street pavements have been ripped up and replaced with ashfelt, which we are opposed to. Part of the surface is also missing. Actions Noel Ene will identify the appropriate person to write to within the council and we will pursue this. Any letter should raise the issue of inspection of the standards of work undertaken. The TRA will invite a representative from the council Highways Department to a future meeting. We will raise the issue with Cllr Mark Williams to see what influence he can exert. Architectural rescue site on Southampton Way. This has been bought. We believe it will continue to be run as an architectural rescue site but we want to keep an eye on this because it’s Metropolitan land and thus protected from development. 4. 'Flood Prevention Plan' Donnachadh introduced his draft flood protection plan. We are in a zone that is vulnerable to flooding from storms. Ensuring that drains are working is important. Green infrastructure is also key to preventing flooding by helping to absorb excessive rain water. There are also devices that people can get to block up airbricks, cellars and sewage inlets. One possibility is fitting these to the most flood prone homes. Thinking about an early warning for a flood is also important, and the possibility of people committing to help neighbours to move things upstairs if there is a flood warning. In discussion the issue was raised of what people were putting down their drains. We agreed that a section of the plan should be about what people should not put down their drains to ensure that we do not have blockages. The issue of not blocking street drains with leaves was also raised. We are also interested in seeing whether we entitled to additional protection from the council. Jenny and Tom have had a meeting with John Kisse. He wants all the stakeholders to agree a plan together for flood prevention. This would include the Church, the School, the business association and ourselves. This means that we need to arrange a meeting with key stakeholders to discuss and agree a plan with a working party. The issue of flooding outside Tesco’s was also raised. We have logged an issue with Tescos about this Actions Donnachadh, Antonio and Jenny agreed to form a working party. Kapie will continue to pursue the flooding issue with Tesco’s. 5. 'Safer Roads and parking' Jenny has met with Cllr Hargreaves to discuss the problem of rat running and the possibility of closing off the top of Newent Close. Barrie Hargreaves has promised to reply to Jenny but so far we have not heard anything. The suggestion was made that a mirror could be fitted in order to help drivers and cyclists to see each other and pedestrians. Action We agreed to write to the council again suggesting the closure of the top end of Newent Close where Newent Close meets Tower Mill Rd. We believe that this was planned and agreed at the time when Newent Close was developed and Tilson Close was built. We want this to be a no-through road. The possibility of inviting Newent Close residents to the next community meeting to consult on the issue was raised. Action Donnachadh will approach the council seeking advice about planning enforcement. We believe that the council agreed to close of Newent Close more than 10 years ago and we would like them to honour this commitment. 6. 'Greening the Triangle and gardeners' Only one resident turned up to the first Greening the Triangle skills workshop. There is an issue about advertising and promotion of these events. There was praise for the miniature community garden that has been erected. A meeting has taken place about large free standing planters that can be placed in the locality. This is being taken forward by the Gardening Group. We recognise the need to engage the school in the greening the triangle project. Action David Watkins agreed to approach Nicholas as the chair of Governors about engaging the school with greening the triangle. The Bonnington Square visit is going ahead at 2:30pm on the 7th October for an hour, including a walkabout. Action To e mail residents about this event and, also, to make sure that this appears on the Facebook site. 7. 'Cleaner Greener Safer – Grants and Applications' We have now received the £500 cleaner greener safer money for planting along the side of St Georges’ Church hall. The plan is being put together for this. Action Once we have a plan we will contact the neighbours in Newent Close to let them know our intentions and invite them to help. A new cleaner, greener, safer fund has now been made available. We are considering applying for funding in order to place railings on the wall of the Rainbow Street block in order to prevent street drinking and littering in the block. Clearly the current dwarf wall is not secure. We could apply for funding from Cleaner greener safer in order to put railings on the wall but we also believe that this is a Housing Department issue and that the council should fix it from the Housing budget. Action Noel agreed to photograph the dwarf wall and present the case to the Housing Department for metal railings on top of the dwarf walls to secure the block and prevent people from congregating and drinking on the wall. Jenny and Claire will also apply for money from the newest cleaner, greener, safer fund for planting in the front garden of the block. We also discussed the issue of fly-tipping and putting planters outside garage where rubbish gets dumped. Stephen W will discuss with garage owner who uses it as a store. 8. 'Financial Report' We raised £17.90 at the AGM from the seed raffle. We also have £500 from the cleaner, greener, safer fund. 9. 'Dates of future meetings' Tuesday 16th October at the Flying Dutchman pub. Tuesday 13th November – venue TBD. Tuesday 11th December – venue/time etc to be decided Action We need to publicise the dates and locations of future meetings on Facebook, the Wikki site and by email